External Communications Manager

Dot is home to a set of businesses united by a bold ambition: to redefine student living and support over one million students each year.

Spanning 180+ cities in 30 countries, our companies include, Global Student Accommodation (GSA), Yugo and  Together, we bring global scale and local insight, powered by more than 2000 passionate people. We believe progress happens when people come together with purpose. We're committed to building long term value through everything we do. With three decades of continuous evolution, Dot's strength lies in how we work.

We are pioneering, purposeful and positive, driving smart, sustainable growth across our portfolio. We connect expertise with opportunity to turn ideas into impact and momentum into lasting change

At Dot, we live and work by our values every day:

• Pioneering: With three decades of groundbreaking achievements and a passion for international expansion, our distinctive proposition remains stronger than ever.
• Purposeful: Every action we take is intentional, designed to align with our values and create lasting benefits for our people, communities, and the planet.
• Positive: We tackle challenges with resilience and seek to create a supportive and empowering environment for our teams and communities.

You will lead the delivery of external communications for Dot and its portfolio companies, turning the Group's communications strategy into high-impact plans and results across media relations, public affairs, corporate communications, digital content and events.

Working closely with the Global Head of Communications, you will own delivery and move quickly, while building the experience to shape strategy yourself. You will be one of the Group's senior media voices, a trusted adviser to leaders on reputation, and the first line of defence when issues arise across our 30 countries.

• Translate the Group's external communications strategy into an annual plan with clear priorities, owners and measures
• Own delivery of the plan at pace, focusing on delivering impact and balancing the priorities of multiple brands and markets
• Contribute to the development of strategy, narratives and messaging frameworks, taking increasing ownership of defined areas of strategy over time
• Apply the Group messaging framework across all businesses so each brand speaks in its own voice to tell one Group story
• Work in partnership with brand and marketing teams to align commercial priorities and spot cross-brand opportunities
• Coordinate with Internal Communications so colleagues hear significant news first and announcements land consistently, inside and outside the business

• Run a busy proactive and reactive press office
• Build and maintain senior media relationships internationally
• Lead campaigns, announcements and thought leadership programmes from idea to coverage
• Draft and sign off press releases, statements, Q&As, briefing notes and leadership content
• Prepare and brief spokespeople, including media training and interview preparation

• Deliver communications for GSA and the Group's corporate activity, including capital raises, joint ventures, acquisitions, disposals and other milestones
• Work closely with the Investor Relations, Legal and Finance teams so investor-facing messaging is consistent, accurate and well timed, and commercially sensitive information is protected
• Monitor policy and regulatory developments in our priority markets and assess what they mean for the business
• Develop policy positions, briefings and key messages with the Global Head of Communications and business leaders
• Coordinate consultation responses and Dot's participation in sector forums and coalitions

• Support on issues and crisis communications planning, protocols, scenario playbooks and holding statements
• Identify reputational risks early and advise on mitigation, working with Legal, Compliance, Operations and brand leaders
• Lead the communications response to live incidents across time zones, including out of normal working hours
• Run post-incident reviews and keep protocols tested and up to date
• Support regular reputational risk reporting to leadership and the Board

• Translate insight from data into clear recommendations
• Set KPIs against an agreed baseline and report on performance, aligning to clear business outcomes

• Oversee the corporate website(s) and social…